Dr. Rick Peppercorn, the representative of the United Nations agency in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Friday that there was heavy shelling around the Kamal Adwan hospital overnight. It is one of the few health centers in northern Gaza that is partially functioning.
Briefing reporters in Geneva via video link, he said an Israeli military tank was seen outside the hospital at 4 a.m. Friday, when people were told to leave the health center.
“There was no official order to evacuate,” but instead rumors and chaos.
“People tried to climb over the wall to escape and the Israeli military opened fire in the chaos. There are reports of people being killed and arrested.”
According to Dr. Peppercorn, very few aid supplies and emergency health teams have been able to reach Kamal Adwan Hospital since the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza began in October. Due to this, there is a shortage of essential medical supplies and fuel in the hospital.
After seven weeks of unsuccessful attempts and requests, an emergency medical team was allowed to deploy there a few days ago with medical supplies, but was then told to leave.
The team consisted of two surgeons, two emergency nurses, a gynecologist and an operation specialist. Dr. Peppercorn said there are currently no surgeons at the hospital and it is very unfortunate that this international team has been asked to leave.
WHO mission prohibited
As of October 2023, the United Nations Health Organization has requested 273 missions, of which about 58 percent have been rejected, suspended or blocked.
Transporting patients from Gaza to other countries for safe, better treatment is also a challenge, Dr Peppercorn said.
Following an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and other extremist groups, the Israeli military launched a large-scale counteroffensive in Gaza. Since then, 5,325 patients have been sent out of Gaza.
About 5,000 patients were sent through the Rafah checkpoint, but it was closed on May 7.
The UN Health Agency estimates that there are at least 12,000 patients in Gaza who need to be evacuated to save their lives.
More than 44,000 Palestinians have lost their lives and more than 100,000 have been injured in the violent conflict, most of them women and children.
Terrible price
The United Nations Children’s Fund has expressed outrage that children in the Gaza Strip are dying in tents, makeshift camps and in lines for food.
An airstrike near a food aid distribution center in central Gaza killed four children waiting to receive food there on Wednesday.
At the same time, an airstrike killed at least 22 people in a camp with 40 tents in the Al Mawasi area, although the area was designated a humanitarian zone. Among them were eight children.
UNICEF says the lives of all children in Gaza are at risk and the humanitarian system is on the verge of total collapse. There is no provision of humanitarian aid under international law and efforts to normalize such dire situations must be stopped at all costs.